Toy train operated game of skill



Nov. 15, 1960 G. w. GUENSCH 2,960,336

' TOY TRAIN OPERATED GAME OF SKILL Filed June 29, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 uvmvrox. 650/865 #4 605mm Nov. 15, 1960 e. w. GUENSCH 2,960,336

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Arrow/EV United States Patent TOY TRAIN OPERATED GAME OF SKILL George W. Guensch, 165 Munroe Ave., West Keansburg, NJ.

Filed June 29, 1956, Ser. No. 595,570

7 Claims. (Cl. 273-37) This invention relates to a game of skill and more particularly to a game including an electric train which includes an electrically operated dump car provided with one or more balls that are dumped onto a game board, the game board being provided with various means of segregating the ball or balls to produce a score or lucky number.

In the past various means have been provided to eject or propel a ball onto a game board to produce a score or lucky number. With each variation of the ejecting means the interest in games of skill has centered more about the ejecting or propelling means rather than the actual score board or segregating means for the lucky number. Although the simplest form of such game of skill has been a simple board to permit manual rolling of a ball, the improvements in this type of game of skill have included many variations.

It is an object of this device to provide a toy train as the propelling or ejecting means for a sphere or spheres that are utilized in connection with a game of chance.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an electric train with an electrically operated dump car in which a sphere or spheres are contained within the dump car to be ejected onto a board that is designed as a game of skill.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a game of skill which comp-rises a board with scoring means placed adjacent to the track of an electrically operated train in which there is provided a dump car containing a sphere or plurality of spheres and in which switches are provided to permit the player to stop the train at a desired point and to dump the sphere or spheres from the car onto the game board.

Various objects of this invention may be apparent by reference to the accompanying detailed description and the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the device,

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view partly in cross section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device without the train and includes a schematic wiring diagram,

Fig. 4 is a further embodiment of the game board,

Fig. 5 is a still further embodiment of the game board,

Fig. 6 is a still further embodiment of the game board,

Fig. 7 is a still further embodiment of the game board, and

Fig. 8 is a further embodiment including a plurality of different shaped solid objects.

This application is drawn primarily to the particular variation disclosed herein in which an electrically operated toy train 10 is the operating means for the game of skill. The electric train must of course include a track 11 and an electrically operated dumping car 12. By placing the game board 14 adjacent to the track of the train and providing switch buttons 15 and 16 for the players, it is possible to stop the train at a particular position along the length of the game board 14 and by a second operation to dump the sphere or spheres 17 p 2,960,336 Patented Nov. 15, 1960 from the dumping car and thus permit each sphere 17 to roll down a chute portion 18 to the game board 14 and provide a score or lucky number.

Referring to Fig. 3 it is apparent that the device must be electrically operated. Thus the track 11 is of the standard three rail type in which the center rail A and one of the outer rails B become the conductors. The conducting rail is connected by conductors to a battery C, this battery in turn being connected to switches 15 which are in turn connected to the opposite side or rail. In view of the use of this device by more than one player, a plurality of positions may be provided as indicated by the numbers 7, 8 and 9 and to facilitate easy control by each player, a plurality of switches 15 and 16 are provided, a pair adjacent each of the numerals as indicated. Thus any one player may stop the train by opening one of the switches 15 and in turn may dump the dump car by closing one of the switches 16. The circuit through switch 15 is as follows starting with a bat tery C we may follow the circuit from one side of battery C through lead 20 to rail B. The circuit is picked up by the wheels of the train passing through the motor to the opposite rail A. The other conducting rail A is in turn connected directly to switch or switches 15 which are connected in series relationship, that is, any one of the plurality of switches 15 may be the means of opening the circuit to stop the train. The opposite side of switch, or switches, 15 is connected to the opposite side of battery C. It is apparent that the train when resting upon rails A and B of the track 11 will complete the circuit through the motor of train 10. As long as switches 15 are closed the train will be energized and will continue to operate around track 11. The dump car circuit may be followed through switches 16. It is to be noted at the section X of track 11 there are provided two contact rails Y and Z positioned between the normal rails of the track. The contact rails Y and Z provide a direct contact with elements or electrodes of the dump car as shown in Fig. 2. As in the previous circuit, the energy is provided through the battery C by means of a lead 21 to switches 16 which are in parallel. The opposite side of switches 16 is in turn connected by a lead 22 to contact rail Z. Contact rail Y is connected by a lead 23 to the opposite side of the battery C. Normally the circuit through switch 16 will be open. A player upon pressing and closing switch 16 will energize the propelling means (not shown) within dump car 12. It is to be noted in Fig. 3 that the game board 14 is connected to a chute 18 as shown in Fig. 2 providing a sliding or angular surface to guide the sphere or spheres from the dump car to the game board. The game board in this embodiment is shown with a plurality of spherical depressions of a size to permit the sphere or spheres to fit therein. The depressions may be numbered in any fashion to provide a score in the event a plurality of spheres are used or may be numbered in numerical order to provide a lucky number where a single sphere is used. The game board may be enclosed with glass or any suitable material to retain the sphere or spheres in the event they rebound before settling into a depression.

A further embodiment of this invention is illustrated in Fig. 4 in which the chute 18 may be divided into a plurality of chutes thus segregating the sphere or spheres when they are dumped. The chute may also be extended to provide a plurality of chutes on the game board itself similarly segregating the spheres or confining the spheres to a single portion of the game board.

A still further embodiment of this invention is illustrated in Fig. 5 in which the game board is illustrated as a rotating wheel similar in construction to a roulette wheel in which there are a plurality of numbers about the periphery and in which each number is screened or separated, butaccess to the screened area is provided from the center of the wheel. In this embodiment a single sphere is dumped onto the spinning wheel and of course will find a position, which is due to the centrifugal force developed by the wheel. The rotation of thewheel may be stopped after settling of the sphere into one of the screened areas.

A still further embodiment of this invention is illustrated in Fig. 6 and Fig. 8. In Fig. 6 the game board is a flat surface. The flat surface may be plain or may be divided into a plurality of squares with markings thereon and in this embodiment the sphere is replaced by a solid figure such as a single die or pair of dice. In one example the die may be dumped onto the flat surface and the number on the flat surface upon which the die settles provides the winning number. Of course a variation of this is to provide the numbers on the die or. a pair of dice. Thus when the dice are dumped onto the flat surface the rules pertaining to dice are adhered to. Although the solid figure has been described as a square block similar to a die, this block may assume any shape such as the triangular block shown in Fig. 8.

A further embodiment of this invention is illustrated in Fig. 7 in which the game board is set up with a pin or plurality of pins similar to bowling pins but in miniature and in this instance the sphere that is dumped may be weighted and heavier to thus provide the means to knock down the pin or pins that are standing upon the game board.

Although this invention includes an electrically operated' train which is utilized as an attraction or an amusement in conjunction with the game, it is to be understood that any standard means mounted within the car may be included to propel the sphere from the car onto the game board without departing from the spirit or" this invention. Although the game boards have been illustrated in various configurations, the game boards may be changed to suit the particular requirements without departing from the spirit of this invention and this invention shall be limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A game of skill which includes the combination of an electrically operated train and track witha game board positioned adjacent to the track, said train including a dump car with an electrically operated dumping mechanism, a first circuit including a switch to stop said train, and a second circuit including a switch to operate said dumping mechanism of said dump car, a casting element carried by said dump car, said game board provided with segregating means for said casting element.

2. In a device according to claim 1 in which the first circuit includes a plurality of switches connected in series relationship, and the second circuit includes a plurality of switches in parallel relationship and in which one switch of each circuit is positioned adjacent a numbered position within easy reach of the players.

3. In a device according to claim 1 in which the game board segregating means comprises a plurality of numbered depressions and in which saidcasting element is a 4 sphere of a size suitable to fit into any one of said depressions.

4. In a device according to claim 1 in which the game board is formed in the shape of a roulette wheel and in which the segregating means compn'sees a plurality of numbered screened areas about the periphery of said wheel with an open area toward the center of said Wheel and means are provided to rotate said game board.

5. A game of skill which includes a combination of an electrically operated train and track with a game board positioned adjacent to the track, said train including a dump car with an electrically operated dumping mechanism, a first circuit including a switch to stop said train and a second circuit including a switch to operate said dumping mechanism of said dump car, a plurality of casting elements carried by said dump car, said game board provided with a plurality of numbered depressions, there being a plurality of chutes to guide said casting elements to particular depressions, said casting elements being of a size suitable to fit into any one of said depressons.

6. A game of skill which includes the combination of an electrically operated train and track with a game board positioned adjacent to the track, said train including a dump car with an electrically operated dumping mechanism, a first circuit including a switch to stop said train, a second circuit including a switch to operate said dumping mechanism of said dump car, and a weighted ball carried by said dump car, said game board comprising a flat alley-shaped board with a tenpin, and said. ball being capable of knocking down said tenpin.

7. A game of skill which includes the combination of an electrically operated train and track with a game board positioned adjacent to the track, said train including a dump car with an electrically operated dumping mechanism, a first circuit including a switch to stop said train, a second circuit including a switch to operate said dumping mechanism of said dump car, and a die carried by said dump car, said game board being a fiat board without markings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 434,987 Hill Aug. 26, 1890 475,067 Risdon May 17, 1892 557,938 Averell Apr. 7, 1896 615,188 King Nov. 29, 1898 649,814 Coker May 15, 1900 1,098,879 Bugbee June 2, 1914 1,314,623 Wagner Sept. 2, 1919 1,374,844 Flatow Apr. 12, 1921 1,569,688 Utter Ian. 12, 1926 2,226,875 Rexford Dec. 31, 1940 2,373,148 Smith Apr. 10, 1945 2,444,961 Smith July 13, 1948 2,634,551 Smith Apr. 14, 1953 2,708,885 Smith May 24, 1955 

